SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS FOR ROOM THERMAL RESPONSE

The sensitivity theory is a suitable approach for assessing the room t hermal response. It results in the 'sensitivity coefficients' (SCs) wh ich, as derived here, evaluate the variation of the thermal load due t o a fluctuation in a given design parameter around its nominal value. In this paper the general method is presented and a number of SCs are derived to evaluate the sensitivity of the building energy demand to t he window surface area, to the overall transmittance and mass thermal capacity of a given wall, and to other structural data.